Art Notes: Sept. 1

Published: Sunday, September 1, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, August 30, 2013 at 2:19 p.m.

The Hendersonville Symphony Youth Orchestra will hold open auditions for the 2013-14 season by appointment on Saturday at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 900 Blythe Ave., Hendersonville.

Other audition dates are available for those with conflicts.

Membership in the HSYO is open to public, private and home school students by audition. String, wind, brass and percussion players with a minimum of one semester of instruction and up to age 21 are invited to audition. Call 828-393-5222 or register online at hendersonvillesymphony.org/hsyo.

Call back will be from 1 to 5 p.m. Sept. 15. The playhouse is seeking boys and girls ages 10 to 18 and adult men for "Mulan." For the "Christmas Story" cast, the playhouse is seeking boys ages 6 to 14 and girls ages 9 to 12.

Call 828-693-3517 or visit www.ytrocks.com for more information.

BREVARD

Fall pottery classes at Brevard studio

Pottery classes for children and adults are being offered at the Carwile-Dodson Pottery Teaching Studio at 4201 Greenville Highway, Brevard, this fall.

Schedule of classes:

u Beginner and Intermediate Wheel Throwing will be taught by John Dodson from 6 to 9 p.m. Sept. 9-12 and Sept. 23. Students will learn about the properties of clay, as well as how to transform basic cylinders into bowls, vases and cups. $160.

u Hand Building Techniques will be taught by Mary Murray from 6 to 9 p.m. Nov. 11-14 and Nov. 21. Students will learn hand-building techniques, including the pinch, coil and slab methods of pottery construction, including press and drape-molding slabs. $160.

u A raku-firing workshop with Dodson and fellow Mud Dabbers potter Stuart Howe is set for 6 to 9 p.m. Sept. 28. Students will be invited to observe one of the most dramatic and exciting firing techniques, raku. $10, plus cost of bisqueware selected ($15-$40 available).

u A covered container workshop with Wendy Elwell, will be offered from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 5 and Oct. 12. Elwell, formerly of Burnwell Pottery, will teach intermediate students how to make lidded pieces, from honey pots to covered casseroles. $170.

u Try Pottery classes, which give adults the opportunity to learn the basics of pottery from 6 to 8 p.m. Wheel throwing will be taught on Sept. 7 and Nov. 2, and hand-building will be taught on Oct. 19. $40.

u Two independent study sessions are open to Carwile-Dodson Studio students who have completed a multi-session class with instructor approval. Session I of this non-instructional studio time is Sept. 18-Oct. 13 and Session 2 is Oct. 16-Nov. 10. The studio will be available from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays and 2 to 6 p.m. Sundays. $105.

Private lessons for individuals and groups, including birthday parties, also are available. Advance registration is required for all classes.

Call 828-884-5771 to register. Visit muddabbers.com for a complete schedule.

TRYON

Blackwood gourd carvings at gallery

Ann Blackwood is the featured artist at Thompson Garden Gallery, 83 Palmer Street in Tryon.

A Greenville resident and former Asheville high-school science teacher, Ann Blackwood began gourding when she saw a hand-carved nativity scene on a gourd in her dentist's office.

Gourds are natural objects and have been used since ancient times as bowls and storage containers. Gourds can be purchased that are more than 100 years old — yet they are still useful as well as objects of beauty.

Gourding takes an incredible amount of time — especially since there are numerous cleaning and drying stages.

At Tryon's second-Saturday gallery trot in September, Blackwood plans to show gourds in various stages of completion to give people an idea of what is involved.

Visit the Gallery Trot from 5 to 8 p.m. Sept. 14 for a meet-and-greet with Blackwood. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday.

Call 828-859-3185 for more information.

ASHEVILLE

Olga Michelson featured at Asheville Art Gallery

An opening reception for Olga Michelson, the Asheville Gallery of Art's featured artist for September, will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the gallery, 16 College St., in downtown Asheville.

Michelson's exhibition, "Verity of Genre," features oil paintings on canvas. The show will display through Sept. 30.

Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Call 828-251-5796 or visit www.ashevillegallery-of-art.com for more information.

Writers network open mic night at library

The North Carolina Writers Network invites writers to share their literary works at the Literary Open Mic Night from 6 to 7:45 p.m. Sept. 16 at the Henderson County Public Library, 301 N. Washington St., Hendersonville.

A meet-and-greet begins at 5:30 p.m.

Lana Hendershott, county rep for NCWN, said, "We hope all types of writers will turn out for the open mic night and share their talents with us. We also hope the public will come and enjoy a fun evening of sharing. This will provide writers an opportunity to connect with other writers with common interests."

After introducing themselves and their pieces, prose writers will be given five minutes to read, and poets will be given three minutes. Poets, fiction writers, playwrights, essayists and memoirists are welcomed.

The event is free, but registration is required to read. Readers can register at opmiclit1@gmail.com or call Pat Vestal at 828-435-1053.

Poet Tina Barr and novelist Bonnie MacDougal will kick off the Writers at Home fall series with a reading at 3 p.m. Sept. 15 at Malaprop's Bookstore/Café, 55 Haywood St., Asheville.

The Writers at Home series, sponsored by UNC Asheville's Great Smokies Writing Program, is free.

Barr's poems have appeared in anthologies and journals, including The Antioch Review, Brilliant Corners, Crab Orchard Review, The Mississippi Review, Notre Dame Review, Shenandoah and Witness. She has won three chapbook awards as well as the Tupelo Press Editor's Prize for her book, "The Gathering Eye."

She formerly directed the creative writing program at Rhodes College in Memphis, where she was Charles R. Glover Chair of English Studies.

MacDougal is a former Philadelphia lawyer and the author of four novels about lawyers and the law, including "Breach of Trust" (Gallery Books, 2002) and "Common Pleas" (The Earnshaw Press, 2003). MacDougal received her undergraduate degree from Bryn Mawr College and her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

Both authors will be teaching classes for the Great Smokies Writing Program's fall semester. Call 828-250-2353 or visit agc.unca.edu for more information.

ASHEVILLE

NC Stage Company to debut new play

North Carolina Stage Company will kick off its 2013-14 season with the world premiere of "Stalking the Bogeyman" at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 18 at 15 Stage Lane in downtown Asheville.

A probing new play adapted and directed by Markus Potter, is based on the true story of David Holthouse, a journalist who stalked the man who abused him as a boy.

Originally aired on NPR's "This American Life," this play provides an unfiltered view of the events of that night and Holthouse's journey to get revenge. Holthouse says he spent years plotting the murder of the man who traumatized him and only changed his mind when his mother found the journal he wrote as an 11-year-old boy. "If you want to keep a secret, never write it down."

NC Stage will present "Stalking the Bogeyman" before it's produced off-Broadway early next spring at NewYorkRep.

Tickets are $16-$28, depending on the night of the week. Student tickets are $10. Performances are 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sundays.

Call 828-239-0263 or visit www.ncstage.org for more information.

ASHEVILLE

LEGO artist to decorate NC Arboretum

The North Carolina Arboretum's eight acres of formal gardens and exhibit hall will be playfully decorated with 27 sculptures created by LEGO brick artist and renowned children's author Sean Kenney beginning Oct. 19.

Walk by an 8-foot tall hummingbird, admire a 7-foot rose, and go nose-to-nose with a 5-foot butterfly. Ranging in size from six inches to nearly 8 feet, a variety of creatures are represented in the exhibit, including a tiger swallowtail butterfly, a green darner dragonfly, a hummingbird and even a gardener. The largest sculpture is a mother bison made from 45,143 bricks.

Created from nearly 500,000 LEGO bricks, the 27 sculptures make up 14 large displays. Based in New York City, Kenney is one of only 13 LEGO Certified Builders worldwide.

In addition to Kenney's pieces, the arboretum will be featuring creations from LEGO enthusiasts in the community. Children and adults are invited to enter the Some Assembly Required LEGO Brick Competition. Participants will design and build their displays, which will be on view in the Baker Exhibit Hall.

More than $2,500 in prizes will be awarded to the top entrants. For age divisions, rules and regulations and entry forms, visit www.ncarboretum.org.

Some Assembly Required will be on display at The North Carolina Arboretum through Jan. 5.

Exhibit admission is free with the standard parking fee ($8). Admission and parking is always free for Arboretum Society members.

<p>HSYO auditions set for Saturday</p><p>The Hendersonville Symphony Youth Orchestra will hold open auditions for the 2013-14 season by appointment on Saturday at Trinity Presbyterian Church, 900 Blythe Ave., Hendersonville. </p><p>Other audition dates are available for those with conflicts. </p><p>Membership in the HSYO is open to public, private and home school students by audition. String, wind, brass and percussion players with a minimum of one semester of instruction and up to age 21 are invited to audition. Call 828-393-5222 or register online at hendersonvillesymphony.org/hsyo.</p><p>Flat Rock</p><p>Playhouse auditions for 2 shows in September</p><p>Flat Rock Playhouse is holding auditions for two upcoming productions, "Disney's Mulan Jr." and "A Christmas Story," from 5 to 7 p.m. Sept. 13 and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sept. 14 at Robin R. Farquhar Education Center, 1855 Little River Road in Flat Rock.</p><p>Call back will be from 1 to 5 p.m. Sept. 15. The playhouse is seeking boys and girls ages 10 to 18 and adult men for "Mulan." For the "Christmas Story" cast, the playhouse is seeking boys ages 6 to 14 and girls ages 9 to 12. </p><p>Call 828-693-3517 or visit www.ytrocks.com for more information.</p><p>BREVARD</p><p>Fall pottery classes at Brevard studio</p><p>Pottery classes for children and adults are being offered at the Carwile-Dodson Pottery Teaching Studio at 4201 Greenville Highway, Brevard, this fall. </p><p>Schedule of classes:</p><p>u Beginner and Intermediate Wheel Throwing will be taught by John Dodson from 6 to 9 p.m. Sept. 9-12 and Sept. 23. Students will learn about the properties of clay, as well as how to transform basic cylinders into bowls, vases and cups. $160.</p><p>u Hand Building Techniques will be taught by Mary Murray from 6 to 9 p.m. Nov. 11-14 and Nov. 21. Students will learn hand-building techniques, including the pinch, coil and slab methods of pottery construction, including press and drape-molding slabs. $160.</p><p>u A raku-firing workshop with Dodson and fellow Mud Dabbers potter Stuart Howe is set for 6 to 9 p.m. Sept. 28. Students will be invited to observe one of the most dramatic and exciting firing techniques, raku. $10, plus cost of bisqueware selected ($15-$40 available).</p><p>u A covered container workshop with Wendy Elwell, will be offered from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 5 and Oct. 12. Elwell, formerly of Burnwell Pottery, will teach intermediate students how to make lidded pieces, from honey pots to covered casseroles. $170.</p><p>u Family clay classes, where adults and children learn basic hand-building skills together, will be offered from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturdays: Sept. 7 — Pinch Pot Possibilities, Oct. 19 — Garden Art, Nov. 2 — Holiday Gifts. </p><p>u Try Pottery classes, which give adults the opportunity to learn the basics of pottery from 6 to 8 p.m. Wheel throwing will be taught on Sept. 7 and Nov. 2, and hand-building will be taught on Oct. 19. $40.</p><p>u Two independent study sessions are open to Carwile-Dodson Studio students who have completed a multi-session class with instructor approval. Session I of this non-instructional studio time is Sept. 18-Oct. 13 and Session 2 is Oct. 16-Nov. 10. The studio will be available from 6 to 9 p.m. Wednesdays and 2 to 6 p.m. Sundays. $105.</p><p>Private lessons for individuals and groups, including birthday parties, also are available. Advance registration is required for all classes. </p><p>Call 828-884-5771 to register. Visit muddabbers.com for a complete schedule.</p><p>TRYON</p><p>Blackwood gourd carvings at gallery</p><p>Ann Blackwood is the featured artist at Thompson Garden Gallery, 83 Palmer Street in Tryon. </p><p>A Greenville resident and former Asheville high-school science teacher, Ann Blackwood began gourding when she saw a hand-carved nativity scene on a gourd in her dentist's office. </p><p>Gourds are natural objects and have been used since ancient times as bowls and storage containers. Gourds can be purchased that are more than 100 years old — yet they are still useful as well as objects of beauty.</p><p>Gourding takes an incredible amount of time — especially since there are numerous cleaning and drying stages. </p><p>At Tryon's second-Saturday gallery trot in September, Blackwood plans to show gourds in various stages of completion to give people an idea of what is involved. </p><p>Visit the Gallery Trot from 5 to 8 p.m. Sept. 14 for a meet-and-greet with Blackwood. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. </p><p>Call 828-859-3185 for more information.</p><p>ASHEVILLE</p><p>Olga Michelson featured at Asheville Art Gallery</p><p>An opening reception for Olga Michelson, the Asheville Gallery of Art's featured artist for September, will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday at the gallery, 16 College St., in downtown Asheville. </p><p>Michelson's exhibition, "Verity of Genre," features oil paintings on canvas. The show will display through Sept. 30. </p><p>Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday and from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday.</p><p>Call 828-251-5796 or visit www.ashevillegallery-of-art.com for more information.</p><p>Writers network open mic night at library</p><p>The North Carolina Writers Network invites writers to share their literary works at the Literary Open Mic Night from 6 to 7:45 p.m. Sept. 16 at the Henderson County Public Library, 301 N. Washington St., Hendersonville. </p><p>A meet-and-greet begins at 5:30 p.m. </p><p>Lana Hendershott, county rep for NCWN, said, "We hope all types of writers will turn out for the open mic night and share their talents with us. We also hope the public will come and enjoy a fun evening of sharing. This will provide writers an opportunity to connect with other writers with common interests."</p><p>After introducing themselves and their pieces, prose writers will be given five minutes to read, and poets will be given three minutes. Poets, fiction writers, playwrights, essayists and memoirists are welcomed. </p><p>The event is free, but registration is required to read. Readers can register at opmiclit1@gmail.com or call Pat Vestal at 828-435-1053.</p><p>Photography workshop at Bullington Gardens</p><p>Bullington Gardens will sponsor a three-day photography workshop, "Late Summer Splendor of Bullington Gardens," from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the gardens, 33 Upper Red Oak Trail, Hendersonville.</p><p>Professional photographer Don McGowan will teach this nature photography workshop for beginning to intermediate photographers. </p><p>He will cover close-up/macro image and the management of light and exposures while exploring the emotional power of the intimate landscape. The cost is $90. </p><p>Participants will need a D-SLR camera, tripod, filters, cable/remote release and a laptop with photo processing software. </p><p>To register, call 828-698-6104.</p><p>TRYON</p><p>Gallery trot set for Sept. 14 with music, art</p><p>The Tryon Gallery Trot returns in downtown with performances, music and plenty of art from 5 to 8 p.m. Sept. 14. </p><p>The season is winding down with only one more Trot in October. </p><p>A kids' art tent will be offered at Terra on Trade, and entertainment will be provided by the bluegrass band Blue Haze from 6 to 9 p.m. in the center of town.</p><p>Free Carolina Carriage horse-drawn carriage rides will be available, and magician Paul DiLella will perform. </p><p>ASHEVILLE</p><p>Writers at Home fall series at Malaprop's</p><p>Poet Tina Barr and novelist Bonnie MacDougal will kick off the Writers at Home fall series with a reading at 3 p.m. Sept. 15 at Malaprop's Bookstore/Café, 55 Haywood St., Asheville.</p><p>The Writers at Home series, sponsored by UNC Asheville's Great Smokies Writing Program, is free.</p><p>Barr's poems have appeared in anthologies and journals, including The Antioch Review, Brilliant Corners, Crab Orchard Review, The Mississippi Review, Notre Dame Review, Shenandoah and Witness. She has won three chapbook awards as well as the Tupelo Press Editor's Prize for her book, "The Gathering Eye."</p><p>She formerly directed the creative writing program at Rhodes College in Memphis, where she was Charles R. Glover Chair of English Studies. </p><p>MacDougal is a former Philadelphia lawyer and the author of four novels about lawyers and the law, including "Breach of Trust" (Gallery Books, 2002) and "Common Pleas" (The Earnshaw Press, 2003). MacDougal received her undergraduate degree from Bryn Mawr College and her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania. </p><p>Both authors will be teaching classes for the Great Smokies Writing Program's fall semester. Call 828-250-2353 or visit agc.unca.edu for more information.</p><p>ASHEVILLE</p><p>NC Stage Company to debut new play</p><p>North Carolina Stage Company will kick off its 2013-14 season with the world premiere of "Stalking the Bogeyman" at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 18 at 15 Stage Lane in downtown Asheville. </p><p>A probing new play adapted and directed by Markus Potter, is based on the true story of David Holthouse, a journalist who stalked the man who abused him as a boy. </p><p>Originally aired on NPR's "This American Life," this play provides an unfiltered view of the events of that night and Holthouse's journey to get revenge. Holthouse says he spent years plotting the murder of the man who traumatized him and only changed his mind when his mother found the journal he wrote as an 11-year-old boy. "If you want to keep a secret, never write it down." </p><p>NC Stage will present "Stalking the Bogeyman" before it's produced off-Broadway early next spring at NewYorkRep. </p><p>The cast includes Charles Flynn-McIver, Asheville native Chris Allison, Bill Muñoz, David Novak, Callan White and newcomer Marla Mason. </p><p>Tickets are $16-$28, depending on the night of the week. Student tickets are $10. Performances are 7:30 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday and 2 p.m. Sundays. </p><p>Call 828-239-0263 or visit www.ncstage.org for more information.</p><p>ASHEVILLE</p><p>LEGO artist to decorate NC Arboretum</p><p>The North Carolina Arboretum's eight acres of formal gardens and exhibit hall will be playfully decorated with 27 sculptures created by LEGO brick artist and renowned children's author Sean Kenney beginning Oct. 19.</p><p>Walk by an 8-foot tall hummingbird, admire a 7-foot rose, and go nose-to-nose with a 5-foot butterfly. Ranging in size from six inches to nearly 8 feet, a variety of creatures are represented in the exhibit, including a tiger swallowtail butterfly, a green darner dragonfly, a hummingbird and even a gardener. The largest sculpture is a mother bison made from 45,143 bricks.</p><p>Created from nearly 500,000 LEGO bricks, the 27 sculptures make up 14 large displays. Based in New York City, Kenney is one of only 13 LEGO Certified Builders worldwide. </p><p>In addition to Kenney's pieces, the arboretum will be featuring creations from LEGO enthusiasts in the community. Children and adults are invited to enter the Some Assembly Required LEGO Brick Competition. Participants will design and build their displays, which will be on view in the Baker Exhibit Hall. </p><p>More than $2,500 in prizes will be awarded to the top entrants. For age divisions, rules and regulations and entry forms, visit www.ncarboretum.org.</p><p>Some Assembly Required will be on display at The North Carolina Arboretum through Jan. 5.</p><p>Exhibit admission is free with the standard parking fee ($8). Admission and parking is always free for Arboretum Society members. </p><p>Call 828-665-2492 or visit www.ncarboretum.org for more information.</p>